The most notable example is the WS-15 turbofan jet engine, designed for use in China's J-20 stealth fighter. The WS-15 has experienced reliability problems, but state media boasted last year that its performance matched that of the Pratt & Whitney F119, the world's most advanced jet engine in military service, which was developed in the United States for the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor stealth fighter. China and the US are the only countries in the world with tactical stealth jets in service.
China's turbine blade breakthroughs have won numerous top national science and technology prizes since 2010. They include the development of a unique hollow structure to make lighter and stronger blades; new single-crystal alloys capable of withstanding high temperatures; and a special membrane that can be applied to a blade's surface to accelerate cooling. Two of the national science and technology prizes announced by Beijing this week were awarded for work on turbine blades: one for single crystal alloys and the other to do with mechanical grinding.
The US and Britain are home to the world's four dominant jet engine makers: General Electric (GE), Pratt & Whitney, CFM-International and Rolls-Royce.
Professor Peng Jiahui, who studied laser processing technology in Huazhong University of Science and Technology, said many Chinese researchers and engineers who had worked at GE, Pratt &Whitney and Rolls-Royce had returned to China and significantly increased the pace of jet engine development.
But a more important factor driving China's technical innovation was the size of market, he said.
China had more than 1,700 military planes in service, second only to the US. The demand for turbine blades from China's air force, which was still expanding rapidly, required the industry to come up with better manufacturing methods.
Sino-Russian widebody jet
to use self-developed engine
Rostec State Corporation, the Russian industrial conglomerate co-developing a long-haul wide-body aircraft with China, said last August that the two countries will develop their own engines for the project, with the apparent longer-term aim of breaking the duopoly enjoyed by General Electric and Rolls-Royce, South China Morning Post said.
Victor Kladov, director of Rostec's international cooperation and regional policy, was quoted as saying that the development and manufacture of an engine for the planned 280-seat wide-body jet, known as the C929, is a top priority.
"Only China and Russia will be the manufacturers of the engine," he said, and "will try our best to churn out a best-class engine, to support this aeroplane [project]."
China and Russia have lofty ambitions for the widebody jet, which is being designed to have a range of 12,000 kilometres, said Daniel Ren of South China Morning Post.
Shanghai-based Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) and Russian companies including aircraft assembler United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) and Rostec set up a 50-50 joint venture last year to develop the long-haul passenger plane, with deliveries targeted at beginning in 2025.
The global long-haul aero engine market is currently dominated by GE and Rolls-Royce.
The C929 already has 570 orders from 23 foreign and domestic customers, and Comac officials predict China will require 6,865 new aircraft over the next 20 years, just over a fifth of those twin-aisle planes SCMP said.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
